Jameson Taillon’s free-agency market is growing bigger

A number of teams are interested to sign Jameson Taillon and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com claims that the starting pitcher has been meeting with those teams via Zoom.

The free-agency market of Jameson Taillon is picking up steam and it doesn’t come as much of a surprise since almost every team is looking to improve its rotation at this time of year. The best free-agent starting pitchers, such as Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, and Carlos Rodon, are looking for big contracts that only a few teams will be willing to give them. Jameson Taillon, on the other hand, is usually thought of as one of the next-level good mid-rotation arms. This means that his contract will be less than those of the aces, but his market will be bigger.

Word is that Jameson Taillon has impressed teams during his free-agent Zoom meetings. Taillon's market is gaining steam, per sources, and he is expected to command a deal worth more than the four-year, $56 million contract Jon Gray signed with Texas last winter.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 1, 2022

During his time in the minor leagues, Jameson Taillon was regarded as an extremely promising prospect, which led to the Pirates selecting him with the second overall pick in the draft back in 2010. However, Taillon’s debut in the major leagues was delayed due to both Tommy John surgery and testicular cancer. He eventually overcame both of those challenges and made it to the major leagues in 2016.

Over the course of his first three years in the big leagues, he established himself as a reliable arm. Due to unfortunate circumstances, he was only able to make seven starts in 2019, after which he required flexor tendon surgery as well as a second Tommy John operation. Because of this, the rest of his 2019 was ruined, and Jameson Taillon was unable to participate in any activities throughout all of 2020.

Jameson Taillon was traded to the Yankees at the end of 2020, so he never played for the Pirates again. Given that Taillon’s injury was not clear, many called it a risky move then. But he has been healthy for the last two years, except for a short time on the injured list late in 2021 because of an ankle injury. Still, he made 29 starts that year and 32 in 2022. Over the past two seasons, he has had a 4.08 ERA, with 21.9% strikeouts, 5.7% walks, and 37.1% ground balls.

The Yankees didn’t make him a qualifying offer of $19.65 million, as they didn’t want to pay Jameson Taillon that much. It is predicted that Taillon would get a deal worth $56 million over four years or an average of $14 million per year. However, Feinsand says that Taillon is expected to beat that number. So far, the market for starting pitchers has seemed strong. Tyler Anderson got a three-year, $39 million deal. Mike Clevinger and Matt Boyd have annual contracts worth $12 million and $10 million, respectively, even though both of them had injury concerns. If teams keep putting a lot of value on starters this winter, it wouldn’t be surprising if Taillon beats expectations.

Which team do you think Jameson Taillon will join?